6 Mar 2026
On Wednesday 4th March, a group of volunteer coaches and instructors supported the delivery of archery at the Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) Tayside Parasport Festival. The event took place at the impressive Dundee & Angus College – Gardyne Campus. The festival is aimed at children with a physical disability, vision impairment or hearing loss who attend mainstream education.
They are the most underrepresented group of people within sport. For some, the day is about sport and physical activity, but for many it is a broader experience as they meet other children with similar impairments and build new friendships.Â
According to the Observatory for Sport & University of West of Scotland Research 2021, 12% of children with disabilities in Scotland took part in sporting activity compared to 81% of children without disabilities. This highlights the importance of events like this in providing accessible opportunities for children with a disability to participate in sport and offer sustainable pathways into clubs. Â
For more information, check out SDS’s A Call to Action here.
One of the volunteers, Adelle Fleming from Lasswade Archery Club shared her reflections from the day:
‘‘A large number of young people from across Fife, Tayside and Angus had signed up to try a number of sports across the day. Archery was one of these sports. For most of the young people, Archery was a new experience, and it was a really good experience for most, as they surprised themselves with how well they got on! For the coaches, it was a really good learning experience, with a lot of hands-on experience of coaching people with many varied disabilities, and developing their skills in how to adapt shooting techniques in real life on the shooting line.
Overall, it was an excellent day, really enjoyable for participants and something that disability sports in other areas should consider running.’’
Ken Rae of Links Archers volunteer stated:
‘‘Links Archers were proud to be part of the parasport festival that took place at the Gardyne today. I had a great experience today and already looking forward to future events’’
Euan Murray, Scottish Archery’s Development & Engagement Officer added:
‘‘All round it was a fantastic day, and I really enjoyed seeing the smiles on each child’s face when they managed to have success and hit the target. The volunteers were great with each child, really doing their best to provide a memorable experience for those taking part. Also it was great to see the collaboration and teamwork the volunteers from the four clubs. Finally, the day  demonstrated how inclusive archery is a sport and we hope for many this may be the start of their archery journey.’’
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the archery volunteers who supported the event which includes Simon Needham, Rebecca Duncan and Ken Rae (Link Archers), Leah McEwan (Dundee Archery Club), Ranald Barrie (Ancrum Archery Club), Adelle Fleming and Gareth Fleming (Lasswade Archery Club).
Also a thank you to Graeme Doig of SDS for inviting us along and having archery as one of the sports as part of the festival.
